Many electronic devices are configured for receiving one or more integrated circuit boards or “cards” typically having pins or similar connectors mating with edge pin receivers in one or more card-receiving slots. Non-exhaustive examples of such electronic devices include telecommunication devices such as switches, network devices such as routers, hubs, and the like, computers, and so forth.
Some electronic devices include two or more cards configured as a “protection group” wherein, upon removal or failure of a card in the group, other cards or circuitry in the protection group can (preferably automatically) take over some or all functions of the removed or disabled card (albeit possibly with some loss of speed or performance) so as to substantially avoid loss of data and/or loss of telecommunication or network function.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a system, method and apparatus which can assist in determining whether software and/or apparatus which is intended to deal with card failures or removals, in fact operates reliably and properly.